COACH STUART YET TO PLAY BEST

KAIZER Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has said the selection of defender Njabulo Ngcobo by Bafana Bafana coach

Hugo Broos doesn’t mean he’ll get an “automatic passport” into his starting line-up in the early stages of the new season.

A fortnight ago, Ngcobo made a second-half cameo for Bafana in their 1-0 victory over Ghana in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers at home. That cameo sent tongues wagging, considering the fact that he’s been overlooked by Baxter.

“When he’s selected in the national team, that means he’s selected in the national team. I can’t be put in the national team because some of the coaches think that he’s doing well,” Baxter said yesterday.

“I’ve got to work with Njabulo and see how he is with our players. I believe he’s a very talented player but I’ve got to judge whether he is ready to go into our team, based on his experience with us. It may be easy for him to go into the national squad.”

Baxter continued: “This is also due to the fact that he is a player that the coach doesn’t know. Whether the national coach selects him, or not, is great for Njabulo and us, but that doesn’t give him an automatic passport into the team here.”

Ngcobo is the reigning Defender of the Season, following his exploits for Swallows FC on their return to the top flight last term. He was one of the most sought after defenders during the transfer window until Chiefs landed his signature.

However, since his arrival at Chiefs, he is yet to make his debut, with Baxter preferring the partnership of Daniel Cardoso and Eric Mathoho in the heart of defence. That selection has come under criticism, especially after some costly errors.

Despite being determined to continue with the veterans, the British coach gave Austin Dube – another new centre-back – a full debut against Mamelodi Sundowns last weekend. The decision left

Chiefs supporters bemused as some felt Ngcobo deserved to start instead.

“Fundamental reason being, I haven’t seen him before,” Baxter said on Ngcobo’s omission.

“You talk about last season. I didn’t see him one minute last season. So the first minute I saw him was when I went through the gates of Naturena.”

Baxter added: “Njabulo was, obviously, going to have to make himself known to me, me to him. Do some work together and see how quickly we were going to get him in. We virtually had no pre-season, so we had one practice game (in the off-season).”

Baxter conceded that Ngcobo will get his chance when he believes that he’s a fully-fledged Chiefs player and understands the system.

“We have to bring him to a stable environment where everybody knows their roles and not just shoot him from the hip.”

Chiefs, meanwhile, will be eager to return to winning ways after the loss to Sundowns when they host Royal AM at FNB Stadium tomorrow.

Royal AM head into this match on the back of their first top flight win after beating Chippa United 1-0 at home last Sunday.

Since buying their way into the Premiership, Royal AM have struggled to keep up with the high demands of the division as their behind-the-scenes struggles were aired. But Baxter says that they’ll be a tough nut to crack, given the emerging confidence among the players.

“We have to concentrate on making our performances better, rather than wondering what we are going to get from our opponents. We are going to do that due diligence on them, and we have to make sure we pay them full respect,” Baxter said.